Good afternoon.
I want to talk a little bit about the women in manufacturing working group. We launched that at CME last March, because we had the first female chair of CME, for an organization that is almost 150 years old. The goal was to attract more women in manufacturing. One of the first things we decided to do was to have a survey to be able to have actual data from the Canadian market. Out of that we identified five areas where we believe action is needed to attract and engage women in manufacturing.
The first is that more high-profile female role models are needed to inspire and encourage young women to pursue a career in manufacturing. Women need to see other women succeed. Nearly 37% of survey respondents said that one of the most effective ways to attract more women in manufacturing is to have more visible role models. Women under 35 were considerably more likely to say that female role models would help attract more girls in manufacturing.
Second, young women need more exposure to modern manufacturing facilities to gain a more accurate perspective on career opportunities for them. Misconceptions about manufacturing need to be addressed. Nearly 61% of women surveyed believe other women would be more likely to consider a job in manufacturing if they had a better idea of what it is like. We need to address this outdated view that manufacturing would be repetitive, dull, and dreary.
Third, efforts to encourage young girls to pursue an education in STEM fields and skilled trades need to be improved. The biggest roadblock preventing the gender gap in manufacturing from narrowing is that there are simply not enough women out there with the right qualifications to work in production-related jobs. Only about one in 20 certified tradespeople are women. As well, many companies are actively trying to recruit more women to manufacturing, but these efforts will have little impact unless we first increase the number of women available.
Fourth, businesses need to make their workplace culture more inclusive. Women enjoy working in manufacturing, but they point to challenges in two specific areas. The first is the gender gap itself, that Mike referred to as the chicken-and-egg problem. The survey is clear that the existing gender imbalance discourages women from considering a career in manufacturing. As well, 30% of women say that a male-centric workplace culture is what they like least about working in manufacturing, and 30% think women avoid manufacturing because of the current gender imbalance.
Businesses also need to find creative ways to improve work-life balance for their employees. Many women struggle with finding an appropriate balance between work and their personal life. Shift work, which is very common in many production-related jobs, discourages some women from even applying for manufacturing jobs.
In the coming months, CME will actively engage with business, government, and other stakeholders to look at developing solutions. For example, we can work together to promote careers in manufacturing to girls and women by providing higher visibility of women in manufacturing role models through events and online campaigns of sharing profiles. This can also include a series of videos and planned visits showing careers in manufacturing and modern manufacturing facilities, to expose them to the opportunity and dispel the myth of manufacturing being dirty and dangerous. We can also share our success stories around promoting the accomplishment of women in manufacturing.
Finally, we can support organizations that help bring young girls into STEM, organizations like FIRST Robotics and Let's Talk Science. For example, for close to a decade 3M Canada has been working with Let's Talk Science, a charitable organization that supports learning and skills development from kindergarten to grade 12 students across the country, to help youth and girls to get engaged with STEM and connect with career role models. Also, 3M is a founding partner of Canada 2067, a national initiative to rethink the future of STEM education in the country.
Our hope is that in a few years the participation of women in manufacturing will not be a challenge, but rather a strength inspiring the competitiveness and growth of Canadian manufacturing internationally.
Thank you.